Giving and receiving glory

To glorify God (display his infinite value/glory/worth to others) is to value Him.

AND 

To value God is to glorify him i.e. when we truly value God we want to honor Him not only by our valuing Him itself (feeling God's value in our heart i.e. cherishing Him) but in any actions that spring forth from our valuing-cherishing Him. 

We are saying to others God is valuable to us by both our disposition and our actions, and therefore He could be valuable to them as well. 

To say this another way, we align our lives with what we value most and any actions that help us gain and take part in what we value most. If we recognize GOD is THE most valuable "object" of all "objects" (the King of kings and the LORD of lords... The most high God), we will align our lives (how we live/act) with how to best honor (glorify) him - best put Him on display - so we might gain and take part in who he is and what he's about. To do so tells others by our actions that God is most valuable to us (and therefore possibly to them). How we live matters. People are watching, especially if we claim to know God.  

To value him is also to love him. 

An invitation by God to glorify Him is an invitation to be loved by him and love him in return. It is an invitation to love and value him above all things and to experience His love and value us. This is the essence of our relationship with God: the receiving and giving of love/worth/value. This is the essence of God himself as Father, Son, and Spirit who are in perfect loving relationship with each other.

To love the most lovely and recognize God is the most lovely, and most valuable is to experience and participate in the greatest love and value possible. Not just His worth or value, but ours also. 

We were created by the all-glorious God to be in a relationship with him. In so doing, we experience our own sense of worth and value. In order for us to fully enter into this relationship and fully enjoy him, we 1st had to be created with the greatest possible capacity of seeing, experiencing, and enjoying him in all his glory i.e. we were made in the image of our Creator, created to give and receive glory-value-love just like God does among the Father, Son, and Spirit. The more completely we are like Him, the more fully we can—and do—enjoy Him and experience who God created us to be.

When we rejected God and broke away from this relationship of receiving and reflecting back to him his glory/value/love, the need for us to give and receive glory-value-love did not go away. We still need to value-love something and be valued-loved in return. It is how we are wired by virtue of being in God's image; the most valuable of all.  

Only now, in our state of rebellion, we seek to fill that need for love and glory with everything but God; everything created, which also happens to be infinitely inferior to the Creator. Therefore, it never works i.e. completely fulfills us. Creation is finite after all. We, however, are designed by the Eternal and created for the Infinite i.e. God almighty himself. 

There is no getting around this fact; we were made for this; for infinite glory-value-love and therefore must have it. It is the very core of our being; of who we are and were created to be.

The main issue is where do we go to best fulfill this innate aspect of who we are designed to be if not to the Designer and Infinitely glorious God himself?

Like Christ but different. How does it matter?  

Christ is the eternal and only-begotten (not created), image-bearer of God. The exact representation of his being. Heb 1:3 Col 1:15. God of very God. 

We are the created image-bearers of God, designed to receive and give the Father glory just as the Son does with the Father and the Father with the Son. Jn 17:20-23

We were created by God and like God so we can enter into and fully participate in the glory received and given between the Father and Son; a glory and love entered into and united by the Spirit of love/value/glory between the Father and Son. Jn 17:1-5, 13

For some related posts, see the following:

·        Worthless rotten sinners?

·        Hard wired for greatness

·        Created for glory
·        Does God value us?

·        Our worth based on what?

·        What is more important          doing or being?

·        Gods love based on who or what?

·        Our worth Gods glory

·        Giving and receiving glory

·        Why in Gods name does he love us?

loving and valuing...the same?

In considering the definition of love, I found the word value helpful. But I have also found myself wondering how ¹value is similar and different from love. 

Is there a difference? If so, what is it? Let's dive in.

Objective vs personal value

Something can be objectively valuable without our personally valuing it or even being aware of its value.

To say it another way, something can be infinitely valuable (objectively) without being valuable to us personally (subjectively).

God would be a classic example. He is infinitely valuable (without Him nothing would be) though He is ²not personally valued by most - at least not to the extent of His true value. I would even suggest that only Christ fully grasps and appreciates the value of the Father. 

For something to have actual value means there is something objectively and innately valuable, important, or significant about a person or thing first, regardless of whether we personally value them (it) or not. 

How are subjective value and love connected?

To personally value something is to also have affection for it i.e. to feel love for something. Loving affection involves experiencing emotional delight in that thing or person we value. Loving affection is an indication we have personal regard ³for the value of someone or something. It is both subjective as well as objective. 

Valuing something more than its worth

On the other hand, to value someone or something does not necessarily make them or it valuable objectively, only subjectively. This involves personal affection toward what is considered valuable by the beholder, even when it may not be valuable objectively, i.e., it is not actually or objectively as valuable to others as we think or feel. 

For example, we can meet someone charming who we feel could be important to us, who turns out to be nothing like they presented themselves to be. The reality of who they are doesn't match the appeal of who we thought they were or who they presented themselves to be.  

Valuing things vs persons

A classic example of a thing (vs a person) not being as valuable as we thought would be a product that doesn't equal or live up to the promise or "sales pitch" e.g. a job, a certain level of wealth, a potential partner, a particular car, a bigger house, even something simple like a purse or a pair of shoes etc. As we learn and experience more about these things, the actual value doesn't match the hope - or hype. As a result, we often despise the very things we sought so diligently when they do not deliver what we sought them for. 

It is pretty common for all of us to place a higher value on someone or something more than it's actually worth. 

Overvaluing is not the same as something having no value at all

Overvaluing something doesn't mean there is no value. Certain things may give you some happiness initially, but not to the extent you hoped, thought, or were told. They may be good things, but not the best thing, and not to the extent we thought.

One reason this difference is significant is that we may have a greater affection or love for something beyond what it deserves. We can love something to the point of worshiping it (and often do) when in reality it will never deliver long-term what we want, need, or believe it will. 

Not fully experiencing something's true value

We can also appreciate the beauty and value of something objectively without ever personally participating in its full value e.g. we can see and smell an exquisite meal -- which is participation on a limited level.  And observe others eating and enjoying it, but we will not fully experience or benefit from it until we eat it ourselves. It is no less valuable because we don't eat it; it is just not fully valuable to us experientially or personally i.e. subjectively. 

We can observe the beauty or strength of another, yet never personally experience these qualities through direct participation. A fiancé can admire the physical beauty of his soon-to-be bride (or the strength and protection of her soon-to-be husband) but not fully partake of and experience that beauty (or strength) until they are married.

Value is ⁴foundational and a fundamental part of loving. It must exist first. But having loving affection for someone is personal in nature, whereas someone or something having value is an objective fact. 

Valuing from afar vs the nearness of love 

Valuing has more to do with our recognition of something's value from afar. Love/affection has more to do with intimacy (closeness) and personal enjoyment of that which is valuable.

Also, when we value something, it is usually more utilitarian or functional than affectionate.  

The most valuable of all

God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, thereby making Him the most significant and valuable being in the universe. Without Him, nothing exists, including you and I. 

Yet many do not recognize this or have any affection toward Him i.e. God is valuable (objectively) even when He is not ⁵personally (subjectively) valued.  

A skewed view of God

Some even despise God for various reasons, despite His infinite worth. Usually, this is because He didn't come through for them in the way they thought he should. For these people, even though God is objectively valuable, he is not personally (subjectively) attractive.  

The problem however isn't with God but our view that He is some kind of celestial butler who should cater to our every whim. But this would not be God at all. God is all-knowing, loving, and able to do what He knows is best, not what we may think is best. 

By definition, God is controlled by no one. He is guided by His perfect understanding, not our limited understanding. He is the reason He does what He does in the way He does it. Because only He is all wise, loving, and powerful. We are not - though we often think and act as if we are. We are often pretty foolish (fooled).

God values us?

God not only values us as His image bearers but also enjoys our interaction with him. He is delighted when we are delighted in Him. He is happy when we are happy in Him. He finds pleasure in our experiencing pleasure in and from our relationship, fellowship, and communion with Him. In short, He not only values us, He also loves us. Or if you wish you could say He not only loves us but values us. 

God values all his image-bearers by virtue of them being like Him, but he does not have a personal relationship with or affection for all of them. That relationship with the accompanying affections is experienced by those who recognize Him as the Source of love, life, and all things. Those he has personal affection for, He pursues and draws to himself. 

If this article tugs at your heart in any way, He is pursuing you. If it doesn't, pray He has mercy on you and stirs your heart to seek Him. No one comes to Christ unless the Father draws them. Jn 6:44

For a discussion on why God delights in our delight, click here.

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¹by value I simply mean something of importance, e.g. When we say someone has strong values, we mean certain things are very important to them, such as family. When we say someone has strong family values, we mean they place high importance on their family over other persons or things. 

²The only reason God is not personally valued, i.e. loved by most, is because they do not recognize and acknowledge all they are and have is from Him. By definition, this is part of what makes Him God i.e. He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things.

And this is usually because of all the pain and suffering they experience and see others experience. They assume if God existed, he would address all the pain and suffering (which He has, only not on their terms but on His - which are the best terms, because only He knows what is best since He knows and sees all things). We question and doubt God's love and goodness because we don't understand the cause and purpose behind pain. For a further discussion on this click here.

³something cannot be truly loved or worth loving until it is first valuable (objectively) and then valued (subjectively).

⁴The opposite is true for the same reason. Someone who has personal regard for us also has affection for us. 

This, however, doesn't mean someone has to have affection for us to treat us in a loving manner. They can treat us well simply because they recognize our value, i.e. that we are worth being treated well by virtue of being in God's image - i.e. like God. And because God has called us to treat others as we wish to be treated, we desire to honor his wishes. 

⁵How many people regularly and consistently show God gratitude for all they are and have? Do you do this yourself? 

Here's a clue. None of us does. That's why someone else (Christ) had to do this for us and actually did it. If you believe this, He will credit this to you as if you did it.   

the most valuable values us

Our value is reflected (indicated) by the value of the one who values us i.e. the value of the one who values us, says something about our value. 

For example, our being valued by our pet, that is totally dependent on us, is completely different - and far less significant - than being highly regarded (valued) by an extremely important, successful, well know and highly sought after leader of a high profile organization who needs nothing at all from us. The more influential this leader is, the more significant their regard for us is and becomes.

To say it another way, if the one who values us is of great value, doesn't that also say something very significant about our value? I would suggest, the more important or significant the one is who values us, the more significant our value must be.  

Now, what if the one who values us is the most valuable being in the universe? A being that all other things and beings are totally dependent on for their very existence and sustenance. And not only does this all-powerful and all-sufficient being value us, they value us to such an extent they actually gave up something they valued most so that we might have a relationship with them and share in all they are and have.

The more it costs someone to engage or take part in something, the more they value it. i.e. we are only willing to pay a high price for something we place a high value on. We simply would not be willing to give or sacrifice a lot for something we valued little. 

If the value of something is determined by the price paid for it, how valuable we must be in the eyes of God who gave up His infinitely cherished Son to have us. 

31  "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son (i.e. that which is most valuable to the Father) but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" Rom 8

Joh 3:16  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 

"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped (clung to), but (let it go and) made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."  Php 2:5-8

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich."  2Co 8:9  

For further discussions on our value click 

• Created for glory 

• Worthless, rotten sinners? 

• Does God value us? 

How are love and life connected

Is there a connection between life and love? If so, what is it? To help us gain a better understanding, let's define our terms.

Love - 

is recognizing someone elses value, worth, significance, and treating them accordingly. This isn't about what we get out of someone or something or only about how we feel about them but how we treat them and show them we feel. As DC Talk - the former Christian band - says, love is a verb. 

You could characterize this in several ways; cherishing someone, treating them with honor, dignity, importance; as worthwhile; willingly giving up something you value - be that time or other resources - to show someone you value them more than what you gave up. 

Love at the highest level is always sacrificial - giving up something - but doesn't necessarily feel sacrificial because we love (value) the one we are giving it up for i.e. who we are showing love to. As John said, 

"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome." 

And what are the greatest commands?  To love God with all we are and have and our neighbor as ourselves. 

Though true love is sacrificial it is ultimately something we are glad to do, just as Christ was glad to love us sacrificially even though it was painful. The greater the pain the greater indication of our valuing that which we made a sacrifice for.

How a loving parent cares for their child would be a classic example. Parents pour thousands of hours and dollars into raising their children yet we wouldn't have it any other way. Though it requires a ton of effort and is hard at times, it is a sacrifice we gladly make because we love our kids. 

In this same way, our heavenly Father loves us. He gave up something of infinite value - His Son - so He could have us and share His life with us.

Life - 

is knowing and experiencing our worth, value, significance, etc. When we do, we "come alive" because we feel most valued and significant... in a word, we feel ¹loved. 

Giving life to someone is to acknowledge their worth, value, and significance through our words or deeds. To do this for others brings life to them.

How we do this can be expressed in many ways. Giving them something valuable - such as our time, attention, resources, efforts - to serve them. Telling them how important they are to us, how much we value and appreciate them and backing it with actions.

So you could say love and life are the flip sides of the same coin of value. Love is giving value and life is receiving it. Valuing is what they have in common; either giving it or receiving it.

But where do these notions of life and love come from? 

God is the source of life because he is the most significant and valuable of all beings or things. And therefore He is most worthy of our love and praise i.e. of being recognized and treated as most valuable, most worth being admired, praised, cherished, worshipped, honored, exalted (glorified). 

When God calls us to honor or glorify him, he is saying value me, love me above all other things or persons.

Why? Because he is more valuable than all other things or persons since everything else that is, comes from, is sustained by, and points back to Him. He alone is the Alpha and Omega. 

"How great are God's riches! How deep are his wisdom and knowledge! Who can explain his decisions? Who can understand his ways? As the scripture says: “Who knows the mind of the Lord? Who is able to give him advice? Who has ever given him anything, so that he had to pay it back?” For all things were created by him, and all things exist through him and for him. To God be the glory for ever! Amen." - Romans 11:33‭-‬36 GNB

Because this is who God is - the source (Alpha), the means, and the end (Omega) of all things - to value him as such is to experience our greatest sense of value, for we are like him i.e. in His image and made to share in and experience his glory, majesty, beauty, worth, significance, etc.

We enjoy him because He made us like himself so we could. Like Him, we can give and receive honor and value in and through him; so we can feel, experience, and bathe in His significance, worth, glory, etc. In so doing we experience our own significance, worth, and glory.

For us to feel His worth, we too must experience our own significance in doing so. Our sense of significance comes from partaking of and participating in His. 

In this way, we are like God. God's sense of significance comes in Him valuing Himself within the community of Father and Son, in, by, and through the Spirit of infinite love. 

We were made like him so we too could participate in this community of love in the same way He does.

For related topics see the following:

Is God on an ego trip?

Love is power 

Why are relationships important?

What is the fountain and foundation of relationship? 

Why do we long for relationship? 

What is the love, life, Spirit and essence of God

 God is non-stop love with or without us. 

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¹The only reason we can feel loved-valued is that we are like God who is a community of love among and within the Father, Son, and Spirit. He is thereby the most lovely and valuable of all beings. This triune God created us like Himself so that we could partake of and delight in Him.

Self-worth or God's worth?

To ¹value ourselves is better than not valuing ourselves.

Studies have clearly shown we cannot function at our highest potential if we do not see ourselves as having value and bringing value to others.

However, to be valued by God is not only better, but what we are designed for. Therefore it is best and what actually works long term.

When we understand and recognize God's value of us, we are able to function as designed, regardless of if or when others value us. Unlike the approval we receive from other finite creatures, God's value of us is infinite (because He is Infinite) and certain (because it is not secured by our performance, but Christ's). The value others have for us and the value we have for ourselves is not; it is fickle and inconsistent at best and therefore inadequate. Long term, it is insufficient i.e. it simply doesn't work.

It is fickle and inconsistent because humanity is fickle and inconsistent; both ourselves and others. An infinite need cannot be satisfied by a finite source (us or other created beings).

We were designed to experience infinite value and be the means of bringing God's infinite value to others.

We can only be solid, stable, and consistent when and to the extent that we are anchored in God and his value of us -- who alone is solid, stable, and consistent i.e. perfect.

When we are solid, it is only because we are anchored in him.

The irony is we don't experience our greatest sense of value by focusing on it, ("...self, repeat after me, I am valuable, loved, important" etc. This is not some mantra we must continually tell ourselves) but when we focus on the most valuable i.e. God (only he is infinitely worthy, lovely, most important and deserving of our constant focus and praise etc.)

Why is this? As his image bearers, we were designed to engage and participate in the worth/glory/love of God. We experience our greatest value/meaning/glory/love only when we participate in the most valuable/meaningful/ glorious/loving...God. Anything less does not match up with who we are and were designed to be i.e. it simply does not work.

"The glory of God is man fully alive."- Irenaeus i.e. our experiencing God in all his glory is when we are most alive. When we are most alive in him, we also bring him the greatest Glory.

"Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it." Jesus, Lk 17:33

"For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake (i.e. to honor me) will find it." Jesus in Mat 16:24-26   

We will only truly find our lives when we lose our lives...in him i.e., when we stop seeking to find life outside of God, is when we find real, lasting, and true life in God i.e. when we experience God Himself. 

For a discussion of our worth in relation to sin click here
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¹I am using value as synonymous with being infinitely loved, worthy, important, significant etc.

Crowned with glory and honor

Does God actually value us?  If so, why? After all, aren't we all a broken mess? Yes, we are! Yet he values us never the less. 

"For God so loved (valued) the world - i.e. His creation full of His creatures who bear His image - he gave..." something. 

And what did he give? That which is of infinite worth… His only begotten Son.

Is this not a very clear message of our infinite worth as well?

So how does this work? Why does He value us this much? 

Because He values Himself first. 

But what exactly does this have to do with us? 

He made us like Himself, with the capacity to appreciate and enjoy who He is. Not ¹unlike how the Father and Son - in, by, and through the Spirit - enjoy each other. 

Because we are like Him - in His image - this enables and gives us the capacity to value Him - i.e. to recognize His infinite worth in the same ¹way He does. He values that we are able to value Him; that we can participate and share in His infinite glory and the delight it brings Him as well as us. He values Himself imaged forth in us.

In ²addition, He delights in multiplying and spreading His glory/value to others through us. 

How is this possible?

Next to Him (and His Son) we too have the capacity - as His image bearers - to display his glory in a way no other being or thing can.

In ³Psalm 8:3-5 we are told...

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,

    and the son of man that you care for him? 

5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the

¹heavenly beings (Elohim) and crowned him with glory and honor.

Throughout scripture, we are told God is crowned with glory and honor, yet in this Psalm, we are told we too are crowned with glory and honor. The word here for heavenly beings is Elohim in the original Hebrew. This is a name used for God that is always plural (i.e. God is a community of love and relationship as Father, Son, and Spirit). It is the same word used in Gen 1:27  "So God (Elohim) created man in his own image, in the image of (Elohim) he created him; male and female he created them."  

Of all creation, only we have these characteristics -- glory and honor -- in common with God and are like him in this way. Nothing else, no other created being does.

Because God values Himself, he values His image in us and our being able to value him and display His value (glory) to others. This not only brings joy to more image bearers but also greater joy and glory to Him. 

Because he is glorious, He designed us to experience,  appreciate and share His glory.

For more on how we are hard-wired for glory, click here. 

For a further discussion on being created for glory, click here. 

For a discussion on how value and love are connected, click here.

For more on what God is like and how we are like him click here and here. 

For more on how God's glory is our highest good click here. 

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¹Qualitatively if not quantitatively.

²This also makes us valuable. This is the functional or practical part to our value. 

Being His image bearer is the basis of our intrinsic value. This is true simply because of who we are i.e. who God made us to be, not because of what we do. This has nothing to do with our actions but with our capacity to be filled with and pour forth God to others. This is a capacity created by God and given to us by Him - our Creator.

When we understand this it changes our view of every human being on the planet. Each of us is in God's image with the capacity to show forth God in a way that no other image bearer or anything else in creation can.

What we are able to do is because of who we are. We have this capacity to do, because of our intrinic value as a bearer of God's image.

To actually live according to this design is the basis of our existential or functional value. This is to live out who we are and were created by God to be. Living this out is our realized value, possible only because of our intrinsic value of being like God.

³Psalm 8:5

(ASV)  For thou hast made him but little lower than God, And crownest him with glory and honor.

(CEV)  You made us a little lower than you yourself, and you have crowned us with glory and honor.

(ERV)  But you made them almost like gods and crowned them with glory and honor.

(GNB)  Yet you made them inferior only to yourself; you crowned them with glory and honor.

(ISV)  You made him a little less than divine, but you crowned him with glory and honor.

Does cryptocurrency have value?

Cryptocurrencies are a very hot topic these days, in great part because of many stories we may have heard about early Bitcoin owners becoming multimillionaires. Some are ¹kicking themselves for hearing about Bitcoin but not "getting in on it." Therefore they are looking for the next big crypto coin to "²cash in" on. 

But this is also due to out of control government spending and the instability of the finacial system i.e. our money.

Yet some are trying to tamp down the "hysteria" saying cryptocurrencies are smoke and mirrors and they have no intrinsic value i.e. it's just another "tulip mania" craze (a common example and analogy used).

So which is it? A great opportunity, a hedge against inflation, an alternative to a fake money system, a hyped-up scam, or maybe even a CIA/bankster honey pot?

The argument is often made that since Bitcoin (or other cryptocurrencies) hold no physical assets, they also have no intrinsic value. This assumes only tangible assets have value. 

However, many things have value that are not physical/tangible.

Intellectual property would be a classic example. Why do folks pay consultants? Because they offer information (knowledge) that can help them do business more effectively, efficiently, and easily, thereby enabling their business to become more profitable with the same effort. Is this not valuable? Apparently, some think so since business consultants make a very good living. As the saying goes in business, time is money. Consultants can run upwards of hundreds and in some cases even thousands of dollars an hour e.g. Tony Robbins. Why? They bring value to you or your business, yet no "tangible asset" is involved. Or maybe we should consider the consultant, with their knowledge and expertise, the tangle asset.

A computer app such as Microsoft's Word is nothing more than digital information programmed in such a way that it enables you to write and edit whatever you need to electronically. No more need for Whiteout or endless crumpled papers in the waste basket. This saves time as well as cost of materials.

Microsoft also paid billions of dollars for Skype - a direct messaging platform. Why!? Neither of these are physical/tangible products but ideas applied in the digital arena that offer very significant functional value to the users. 

 

You might even argue a digital program (app) is a tangible asset in the sense that it exists and has valuble benefits when used as designed, like electricity itself. No one would argue electricity doesn't have an effect or value even though it's not tangible/material in the way we normally think. 

The bottom line is anything that allows us to function more efficiently, effectively, securely, and profitability is valuable whether it's a "tangible" - i.e. a physical asset - or not. 

To say it simply, we value anything that saves us time and money. The better it does, the more we value it. 

So here are some questions to consider regarding this digital technology called cryptocurrency. 

Is there value in offering folks a way to do business transactions privately and securely, thereby preventing detection and theft? If there wasn't, we wouldn't have safes or banks (physical/tangible assets) to store our money in, would we? They are called "safes" for a reason. Just because it is a "digital safe" doesn't make it less of a safe storage of value. 

This is also why we don't like to carry around large amounts of cash, and also why there are security features for credit cards. Privacy and security are important - i.e. these features have real value - because they help us keep the hard-earned fruit of our efforts safe. Both of these are an inherent part of cryptocurrency. 

Is it valuable to have a system where everyone is able to see and verify the amount (though not necessarily the parties doing the transaction) so if anyone tries to make a fraudulent transaction (e.g. "write a bad check") it's detected and rejected by the system/technology itself i.e. no need to trust the sender or have a central "overlord" to verify things if the funds can be 100% verified (unlike an overextended credit card or bad check) by the technology itself before you send your goods or provide services? 

Who we are doing business with may be important but often only to determine if we can trust the funds are there and the payment will be good. If there is a foolproof way of knowing the funds are good, who we are doing business with doesn't really matter as far as the validity of the transaction is concerned.

Aren't we finding ourselves increasingly leery of trusting strangers? The fact is you can't do business without trust. In fact, to have any mutually beneficial relationship, both parties must be trusted or we simply won't transact with them. No trust, no business or relationship.

So what if you have a way to pay for goods and services where you didn't have to trust the one offering the funds because the nature of the transfer had features built-in assuring it was exactly the amount you were told and the funds were 100% good i.e. you knew you were getting exactly the amount you asked for or were offered when you were offered it? With cryptocurrency, the technology verifies the availability of the funds and the amount of the transaction. It is built into the coin itself (it is the nature and backbone of blockchain technology) and doesn't require the trust of the party sending it or a central party confirming its validity such as a bank. It simply needs to be sent.

Is it valuable to enable folks to be able to trust that a transaction is legit without having to take our time, energy, and financial resources to do so because we know with absolute certainty the funds are "good" no matter who they are coming from i.e. we know the "check will clear" so to speak, allowing us to utilize the funds quickly which results in being able to use our time elsewhere resulting in greater? Who hasn't lost money, credibility, trust, or customers due to a delayed transfer of funds?

Is it valuable to enable transactions to occur with minimum to no fees (most crypto transactions are strictly peer-to-peer, without using an exchange (exchanges are used to buy and sell, not necessarily transfer funds? Most transaction fees are very low allowing us to do our financial transactions at a much lower cost per transaction than with traditional institutions such as banks? You can do a transfer of literally millions of dollars from one crypto wallet to another often for less than $5 within only a few minutes, sometimes as quick as a couple of minutes. Ever had to wait for days, much less minutes, waiting for "funds to clear" with an ACH transfer or wire? Zelle is great, but you can only send under 2k at a time.  

If you can reduce your cost of a transaction by cutting out the middleman and go directly to the party you are doing business with i.e. peer to peer (because you no longer need the "middle man" due to the inherent built-in verification of the digital transaction) is that valuable? Banks, brokers, and exchanges are merely middlemen who get a piece of the action i.e. money moving from one party to another, and can take days to do so.  If you can move the money directly to the intended party, no middlemen are needed. 

Is it valuable to be able to do a transaction almost instantly with anyone in the world who accepts cryptocurrency? Especially for the one receiving the funds.

What about all the "unbanked" around the world, particularly those in 3rd world countries. Even they have cell phones. As long as you have a "smartphone" you can do all your financial transactions through your wallet installed on your phone. (Wallets are free to install). You can send or receive funds from anyone else, anywhere in the world who has cell service and a wallet on their phone. No bank is necessary because you in effect are the bank sending money to another bank i.e. another phone with a wallet app installed. 

People want privacy, security, protection, ease of use, and the most cost-effective and quickest way of doing transactions. These are all very valuable to all of us. What best provides these things will have the greatest value. True cryptocurrency (not CBDC) does all of these and more. 

If you probe a bit you will find those who scream the loudest about the lack of value of cryptocurrency are those who stand to lose the most, not unlike those who criticized the combustible engine (such as horse-pulled buggy makers) or the internet (the news business and phone companies). No one has newspapers delivered anymore. Magazines are also going by the wayside. Who uses landlines anymore? You can talk to anyone anywhere in the world for a reasonable monthly fee (or a free connection at a Starbucks or the like) through an internet connection. 

Who would be the ones who have the most to lose with cryptocurrencies? Banks, Brokers, Wall Street, and any middleman whose livelihood is tied to traditional financial services. But the biggest losers may be the Central Bank (the Federal Reserve system in the US) and the governments that depend on the collection of revenues through the traditional money system. I don't give tax advice. However, any system that could possibly allow people to bypass taxes poses a real threat to the system and the powers that be. Using government-controlled transactions via fiat currency feeds the beast of the central banking system. If you've ever tried to take food from a hungry dog with a huge appetite (and lots of puppies to feed) you'll get the idea. 

The fact that cryptocurrencies are still relatively new (only around 4% are involved with or use crypto in some way as of this article. However, with a 500% + increase in usage in 2022 (and 27% on average) it is clear that more and more people are finding cryptocurrency has real value, especially on the most remote areas without any banking available at all. 

How many would have liked to have invested in the printing press, the automobile, and the light bulb before their actual value was fully recognized? Can I see a show of hands?

What is fiat currency, and what is its value?

While many express concern over what backs crypto's value, few ask what assets back the US Dollar.

The US dollar is a fiat (money by law or decree) currency, which means it is not required to be backed by any physical commodity or asset, but rather by the faith and confidence of its users (we could legitimately call this a "con" - confidence - game). The value of the US dollar is not pegged to any specific asset or commodity (though it was tied to silver at one time up until 1971).

  

Now it is actually an IOU i.e. a "bill" which is a debt instrument. "We the people" and our labor are the pledged collateral. You could say that by using their "legal tender," we are slaves on a federal plantation. 

The US dollar is widely held and accepted as a means of exchange, store of value, and unit of account among governments, institutions, and individuals around the world, and yet, it is backed by less than nothing... it is a "Federal Reserve Note" - written across the top of every piece of paper "money" - which is not federal and has no reserves but is a "note"

i.e. a debt instrument.  

Once you understand how our current paper money system works and why crypto has actual intrinsic (if not tangible) value, I predict you will be jumping on the crypto train yourself if you aren't already on board.

For a discussion on what exactly is currency click here.

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¹I was actually given 1/10 of a bitcoin when it was around a dollar per coin just to open up a virtual wallet. I had forgotten about it until years later when Bitcoin jumped past $60000 a coin. During that time my computer crashed and I lost the password to my wallet. So somewhere in cyberspace is a wallet (with the missing key to open it) worth 1/10 of a bitcoin at whatever the price currently is.

²This mindset of cashing in on a coin is why so many people lose their shirts. That is not a strategy it is more like gambling. But that's a separate topic for another article.

 

³another argument against crypto is it won't work without electricity, which is true but the actual data - "physical bits of information" - remains intact (just like the letters and words on a page) whether you have the power to view or transfer it or not. Once you have electricity you are back in action. Plus no one seriously thinks electricity will go away long term. Even if we had a major EMT event, solar (and other alternatives) could have us back up and running in time. If we ever had a total electricity blackout we'd have far greater issues than not being able to use cryptocurrency. 

We run on electricity - brain signals for example. The point is, electricity is all around us and we will always find a way to harness it without the system being the gatekeeper.

 

Possibly the most significant and maybe least understood feature of all cryptocurrencies is they are limited i.e. there is a fixed number of coins issued and no more. If not, it is not true crypto but only a digital alternative look alike, such as the government-proposed CBDC i.e. central bank digital currency (personally I wouldn't touch their digital currency if my life depended on it. And if you don't look into how to acquire and use true crypto, it may). 

One of the key principles of economics is supply and demand. If there are a set number of coins, as they become more scarce and their value becomes more and more recognized, they are used more and more and the price will go up because demand will go up, so you never have to be concerned over a coin being devalued through the creation of new coins. This is the opposite of our smoke and mirrors paper money (and the proposed CBDC) that can be fractionalized into oblivion. This drives the value down eventually to nothing as more "dollars" are printed. This will also be the case with a centralized and controlled "fed coin" or fed digital currency that is now being floated about. The simple solution is don't use their crap. To say it simply, true cryptocurrencies eliminate inflation (and often do the opposite i.e. go up in value). So-called inflation is actually the devaluation of paper money by increasing the supply - i.e. printing more - so it takes more of it to acquire the same goods and services over time.